Doctor Doom
VICTOR VON DOOM (ca. 1920-2099) Absolute Monarch of Latveria Victor von Doom, like many members of the Supervillain community and Superhuman World Rulers, is a complex figure. His face is unknown to the world, as is the true form of the man. His rule over Latveria is sometimes seen as just and caring, but just as often as an iron-fisted dictatorship. Considered a supervillain by some and a hero by others, Doom is nothing if not a prominent figure. Biography Ethnically, Doom is of Romani descent, the child of a Gypsy and a member of the Latverian Fortunov Royal Family, though some trace his lineage to the 17th Century monarch, Count Otto von Doom. We can assume, from contemporary figures, he was born near modern Doomstadt shortly after the end of World War I. His mother, who dabbled in witchcraft, sold her soul to the demon Mephistopheles early in his life; his father died not long after of exposure, leaving young Victor an orphan. He was raised by a family friend, named Boris, and began to romance his granddaughter Valeria. Throughout his life he would pursue her, but the two never wed. Doom's skill cannot be overstated. From an early age he was adept in sorcery, using his mother's tools to train himself, vowing to save her from the demon that imprisoned her. During his teenage years, he became a skilled scientist, designing basic AI units and other contraptions. Though he had no formal education, his genius garnered the attention of Empire State University in the United States, and he was given a full scholarship. Upon arrival, he met with Reed Richards, a young, but brilliant, scientist. Certain of his own superior intellect, Doom sparked a rivalry that would last throughout his college career and beyond with Richards. Unfortunately, his pride was his downfall, and despite warnings from his rival, Doom activated an untested machine. The results were catastrophic, the experiment created a massive explosion, scarring Doom for life. Disgraced, he abandoned his studies and traveled abroad. Eventually he found his way to the ancient land of Shambhala, meeting with the immortal Aged Genghis. He instructed Doom to seek out an order of monks; upon finding them, he requested the order craft him a suit of armor, as well as his now-infamous steel mask. He spent some time with these monks, honing his mystic skills. After leaving Shambhala, with no other destination, Doom found himself in his homeland of Latveria, ruled by King Vladimir Vassily Gonereo Tristian Mangegi Fortunov. There he found the Roma harshly mistreated; hoping to right this wrong, he quickly began to build an army, literally. Using spare steel leftover from the First World War, Doom assembled his first Doombots. Fashioned after his mask and armor, the machines along with a Peasant revolution, easily outmatched King Vladimir's meager forces, and Doom installed himself as king. Despite renaming the capital from Haasenstadt to Doomstadt, Doom had no desire for glory, installing a puppet prime minister to act as a diplomat. For decades, few knew of Latveria's true ruler, and Victor von Doom became an obscure figure in the field of science. Doom's rise to power was shortly before World War II; Latveria created an uneasy alliance with neighboring Symkaria and hiring the mercenary team Wild Pack to combat any German soldiers led by Baron Von Strucker that dared enter his country. Throughout the 1950s, Doom remained quiet, perfecting his Doombots and searching for new ways to return his mother to the mortal world. It was not until July 1962 that he made his first public appearance; a year before, his old rival Reed Richards had by freak accident, gained amazing powers. Forming a new team of "superheroes" known as the Fantastic Four, Richards and his friends began to fight crime in New York City. Perhaps out of jealousy, Doom kidnapped Susan Storm, luring the team into doing his bidding; they bested him easily, but Doom soon returned to do battle again. For the next twenty years, Dr. Doom (as he now called himself, despite never receiving his doctorate) would try time and time again to conquer the Fantastic Four; despite his best efforts, he would never succeed. Via time travel, elaborate death traps, and outright declarations of war, the dictator would prove to be a constant thorn in Reed Richards's side, yet, due to his diplomatic immunity and the various Doombots that could be sued in faking his death, or claiming to have gone rogue, they could do nothing to stop him. At home in Latveria, however, things were not so simple. In 1970, Prince Rudolfo, son of the long-deposed King Vladimir, returned to reclaim the throne; Doom was narrowly able to stop him. With the Fantastic Four constantly escaping his grip, Doom turned his eye to a loftier goal - world domination. Through purely military means, Doom would attempt to conquer various nations, though the various heroes of the world would generally stop him. Having failed on many fronts, Doom would try more creative approaches to power grabs, once stealing the "Power Cosmic" from Silver Surfer, a Herald of Galactus. He would also strike up uneasy alliance with other villainous figures and world leaders, once bending the Atlantean King Namor, and by extension the entire Atlantean Empire, to his will. Yet, Doom began to ponder the future of his nation. Adopting the young Latverian boy Kristoff Vernard (renamed Kristoff von Doom) as his own son, Doom began to groom him as his successor. At this time, Doom again attempted to reclaim his mother from the netherworld, but despite the aid of Reed Richards's son, Franklin, an incredibly powerful psychic, he was unable to rescue her. Doom admitted his own failure, his Doombots found this difficult to believe, and assumed Kristoff, with a demeanor much like his father, was the true Doom. Kristoff was installed as ruler of Latveria. However, Doom's ego prevented him from simply ending his reign of the country and retirement in such a simple way. His exit from the world stage needed to be grand, and so Doom staged a massive conspiracy, stealing the powers of the Norse God Odin and using them to reshape the world in his image; unfortunately, as always, he was thwarted by an alliance of superheroes. While he had stolen powers before, Odin was not forgiving and a powerful blast seemingly vaporized Doom. This appeared to be the end for Doom until the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986. Worlds were being destroyed, and Doom appeared once more to battle the Anti-Monitor. He was able to steal the powers of the entity, the Beyond and created an alternate reality out of the fragments from the destroyed multiverses to allow it to survive. A group of Heroes confronted Doom, including Richards. A Battle between the two led to Doom finally accepting Richards was better than him. The World was undone and restored to normal. Doom vanished. The Fantastic Four left to restore the Multiverse. In the early 2000s, as the Superheroes began to be reincarnated, Doom and the Fantastic Four were not among them. Many believe Doom was pulled out of time by a Godlike being(Possibly the Beyond himself, Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet, Dr.Manhattan or many others) with the express purpose of saving as many as he could. Following the Crisis, the period was fairly quiet in Latveria. Kristoff still held the throne, and acted as a far more moderate ruler. For whatever reason, Latveria made no large-scale attempts at world domination until, allowing the planet to breathe a sigh of relief. Eventually the Fantastic Four returned in the Early 1990s. While they intended to resume their heroic activities, after many heroes had retire and resume an age of Superheroes like the one they themselves began in the 1960s, An unexpected attacked by Doom and Namor would put an end to such hopes. In the resulting battle, Doom and Susan Richards would destroy each other while Namor would kill the Human Torch. In anger, Franklin Richards cursed Namor to burst into flame upon contact with air, forcing him to retreat. The Doom responsible was discovered to be a Doombot, requiring the surviving Fantastic Four members to journey to Doomsdadt. They were attacked by a Doom "More Machine than Man" which killed Franklin and Valeria Richards(Though Franklin used his godlike powers to survive his Body's demise). Doom attempted to transfer his mind into Richards's body. The Machine Doom was transported into the Negative Zone. The Castle was destroyed in the battle and Richards found himself inhabiting the body of a Doombot. Upon the death of Kristoff, the Doombots had attempted to imitate their master. They fought amongst themselves for the honor and the victor rebuilt himself from the remains of the defeated and then began to add human parts from Latverian locals to become fully human. Reed's brain was intended to be the final piece. The Fantastic Four officially disbanded. Ben Grimm returning to his wife, Alicia. While Reeds essentially became Doom, his sadness leading him to isolate himself while in Doom's body and also repair the damage to Latveria. Reed attempted one last act of Heroism. He turned the Pillars used to counter the Anti-Monitor's Antimatter wave during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. He rechristened them "Human Torches" and attempted to use them to supply free power. This backfired when a scientist fell into the power core, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the Torches. This occurred simultaneously as the Inhuman Blackbolt being attacked by Thanos and his dying act to release the Terrigen Mists on Earth. As a result many believed Richards was responsible for the mutations until the truth was revealed. The largest consequence of the Mists was many people on earth gaining Superhuman abilities, leading to the Eugenics Wars as such individuals joined forces in conquest. Another side effect was the presence of Superheroes without a positive role model like Superman to inspire them. This led to the Man of Steel returning and reforming the Justice League to educate or take down these individuals if necessary. Richards would be among those who joined Superman's League and offered his Genius to the construction of a Prison to contain such individuals similar to his previous Prison 42. For over fifty years, Latveria remained fragile, with no government able to remain in power for any stretch of time. Some under the name Doom ruled ,one created a fruitful alliance with the destroyed Atlantis, allowing refugees into Latveria, but others were far less successful. But in the year 2099, the "true" Doom yet again returned, looking even further removed from his earlier visage. He quickly overthrew the current ruler Tyger Wylde, and formed with a group of supporters known as the "Zefiro," composed of Roma from the same region as his parents. He moved to conquer the neighboring nation of Myridia, and, seeing the world devastated by the nuclear attacks, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to capture large stretches of the former United States, opposed by a returned Captain America. The last recorded appearance of Doom was later that year, during the invasion of aliens known as the Phalanx. In what became known as the Phalanx War, the hive sent ships of troops to Earth, causing the planet to unite against them. Giving his life to protect his people, Doom apparently died by their hands, naming the Mutant Nostromo as heir to the Latverian throne. However, it cannot be certain is this was truly Doom's death, or whether it was Doom at all. Kristoff, a Doombot, or Victor von Doom himself, granted immortality by some mystic mean, it's impossible to know exactly when Doom is Doom. Though possible he cheated death yet again, Doom has yet to reappear, perhaps, for the best. Category:Characters Category:Villains